Method of and means for preheating fuel oil



Oct. 17, 1944. N. DUNN ETAL METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PREHEA'I'ING FUEL OIL Filed April 16, 1941 M T MW 7 rd 9 M i A q A 4 r; 9 j 4 A) A b J! L w .l a r w w a 1 1 6 N :v ,5 W q IIY Aw ///Jlj F 7 MW 1, M J, W

INVENTORS 1V. Dunn BY V. L. Falah'cq ATTOR EY Patented Oct. 17, 1944 METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PBEHEATING FUEL OIL Ned Dunn, Brooklyn, and Vincent Rockaway, N. Y.

L. Falotico,

Application April 16, 1941, Serial No. 388,776 9 Claims. (Cl. 158-36) This invention relates to a method and means for preheating heavy viscous fuel oil during its delivery or transmission from a source of supply, such as a tank, to a burner, such as a spraying nozzle, to reduce the viscosity of the oil and adapt the same to be readily sprayed and ignited.

In the present method of preheating heavy viscous fuel oil, the oil is forced through a coil diheat transferring medium of the oil burner is mounted, said heat transferring medium being either water or steam, and it has been found that said coil frequently cracks or ruptures and the pressure of the oil being greater than either the head of the boiler water or the steam pressure causes the oil to flow either into the boiler proper if the boiler transferring medium, or into the heat distributing system of the boiler if steam is the heat transferring medium, whereby the efficiency of the boiler and heating system thereof will be reduced.

It is the principal object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the present method of preheating fuel oil by preheating the oil through the use of an intermediate heat transferring medium which is first heated by contact with the heat transferring medium of the boiler and subsequently passing the heated intermediate heat transferring medium into contact with the oil to be heated, whereby the intermingling of the oil with the heat transferring medium of the boiler is eliminated.

It also has been proposed to preheat heavy viscous fuel oil by an electric heating element but it has been found that this method is much more,

expensive in operation than the preheating of the fuel oil by the heat transferring medium of the boiler.

It is another object of the invention to preheat fuel oil by using ordinary main water as an intermediate heat transferring medium and passing said water in a circuitous path successively into contact with the heat transferring medium of the boiler and the fuel oil, whereby the preheating of the fuel oil by the present method is not much more expensive than the preheating of the fuel oil directly by the heat transferring medium of the boiler.

It is a further object of the invention to provide alarm means in the circuit of the intermediate heat transferring medium to indicate the presence of the fuel oil in said circuit.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an unitary and inexpensive apparatus for carrying out the present method of preheating v heat of the intermediate chamber arranged for the passage therethrough ranged and connected to each other to provide a circuitous passage for an intermediate heat transferring medium entering from a source of supply thereof into the chamber heated by the heat transferring medium of the boiler to be heated by said latter heat transferring medium and flowing from said first chamber to the second chamber to transfer the heat thereof to the fuel oil passing through said second chamber, and finally flowing from said second chamber to the connection between the source of supply of said intermediate heat transferring medium and the first chamber.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be set forth in the detail description of the embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is a sectional view of an apparatus for carrying out the method of preheating fuel oil forming the embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a section of another form of apparatus for carrying out said method of preheating fuel oil.

The embodiment of the invention comprises the method of preheating heavy viscous fuel oil being delivered under pressure from a fuel oil supply tank to an oil burner mounted in or relative to a boiler having a heat transferring medium, such as water or steam. The fuel oil is indirectly heated by the heat transferring medium of the boiler through an intermediate heat transferring medium, preferably water. circulating in a closed circuit connected to a source of supply of said intermediate heat transferring medium, the initial portion of said closed circuit adjacent tothe connection thereof with the source of supply coming into contact with a quantity of the heat transferring medium of theboiler to be heated and the final portion of the closed circuit of the intermediate heat transferring medium coming into contact with a quantity of oil between the oil supply tank and the oil burner to transfer the heat transferring medium to said quantity of oil and heat and reduce the viscosity of the oil entering the oil burner.

'I'hismethod of preheating fuel oil eliminates the possibility of the oil intermingling with the ferring medium.

mating flanges of said bodies heat transferring medium of the boiler and flowing into the boiler and its heat distributing system by separating the oil from said medium. Should there be an intermingling. of the oil with I the intermediate heat transferring medium by a rupture or break in the flnal portion of the closed circuit of the intermediate heat transferring medium, means are provided in said closed circuit to give an alarm. so that the supply of oil may be shutoff to prevent a quantity of oil entering the closed circuit of the intermediate heat transthe intermediate heat transferring medium, said oil would not intermingle with the heat transferring medium of the boiler, as the two heat transferring mediums are separated from each other.

Figure 1 shows one form of apparatus for carrying out the present method of preheating fuel oil comprising a housing composed of two hollow or tubular bodies 3 and 4 having laterally extending flanges 5 at the opposite ends. The housin bodies are connected to each other in end to end relation with a wall 6 interposed between the and secured in said position by suitable means, such as bolts 1 engaged in the mating flanges and the peripheral portions of the wall. The free ends of the bodies 3 and l are closed by plates 8 and 3, respectively, secured to said bodies by bolts engaged in the and the flanges 5, as shown at I0. Thebodies 3 and l assembled in this manner form two separate chambers II and I2, respectively, the chamber II being arranged at the free end with a header or transverse spaces I3 formed by a plate I4 secured at the peripheral edge to the side of the body or integral with said body to extend in parallelly spaced relation to the closure plate 8 and having a, series of spaced openings therein for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The opposite end of the chamber II is arranged with a header divided into two spaces I5 and I6 and formed by a plate I'l having a lateral portion I8 extending from a face thereof intermediate the peripheral edge thereof and said plate I1 being secured to or integral with the side of the body 3 to extend in parallelly spaced relation to the dividing wall 6 with the end edge of the lateral portion I3 abutting the dividing wall 6 and the side edges of said lateral portion abutting or being integral with the side of the body 3 to form the two liquid tight spaces I5 and IS. The plate I1 is arranged with a series of open ngs in alinement with the openings in the plate I4, said openings being adapted for the mounting of the opposite ends of a series of parallel rows of tubes I9 in communication with spaces I3, I5 and I6. In the present instance, there are shown four rows of tubes, two rows being in communication with the upper portion of the space I3 ad the space I5 and the other two rows being in communication with the lower portion of the space I3 and the space I6.

The other chamber I2 in the bodyl is also arranged with a, transverse header or space 20 formed adjacent the dividing wall 6 by a plate 2I secured to or integral with the side of the body 4 to extend in parallelly spaced relation to the dividing wall 6 and having a series of openings therethrough. The free end of the chamber I2 is arranged with a header having a pair of liquid tight spaces 2|, 22 formed by a plate 23 having a lateral portion 24 extending from a face thereof intermediate the peripheral edge and said Should the fuel oil enter the peripheral portions of the plates as indicated by the arrows.

' I5 of the inner header,

=' dium flows, as indicated tubes as, and the space plate secured to or body 4 to extend in the end closure plate 3 with 24 abutting said plate 9 and abutting integral with the body 4. The plate 23 is arranged with a series of openings in alinement with and cooperating with the openings in the plate 2I to support a seriesof parallel rows of tubes 25 in communication with the spaces 23, 2I' and 22, in a manner similar to the mountinz of the tubes I9 in the plates II and I1.

The housing 3, l is supported in any suitable manner and preferably adjacent to a boiler and in line with the feed line of fuel oil from a supply tank of fuel oil to an oil burner mounted in or relative to the boiler. The boiler, oil supply tank and oil burner are not shown in the present illustration of the invention as they do not form a part of the invention and different types of boilers and burners may be used without affecting the invention. The housing 3, 4 is connected in communication with a fuel oil supply tank by a pipe 28 mounted in an opening in the side of the body 3 entering the header space It of the chamber I I, as shown at 21, and as the oil is discharged from the tank under pressure, as by gravity or a pump, the oil entering the space I8 will flow, through the two tubes I9, the free end header the tubes I3, the space and from said latter lower rows of the I3, the two upper rows of header space I5 into a pipe end in communication with the header space II and the opposite end connected in communication with an oil burner.

The oil flowing through the housing body 3 is indirectly heated by the heattransferring medium of the boiler, which may be either steam or water, flowing from the boiler through a pipe 29 connected at one end to the steam or water jacket of the boiler and the opposite end connected in an opening leading into the space 2| of the outer end header of the chamber I2, as shown at 30, whereby said heat transferring meby the arrows, through the space 2I', the two upper rows of tubes 23, the inner header space 23, the two lower rows of 22 of the outer end header, and from said space 22 into a pipe 3I returning to the steam or water jacket of the boiler. By this circulation of the heat transferring medium of the boiler, the chamber I2 is heated and the hottest portion being the upper right hand portion thereof, looking at Figure 1, as said medium will give up its heat as it travels through the tubes 25 and the header spaces 23 and 22.

The heat or temperature of the chamber I2 and the tubes and headers therein is transferred to the fuel oil circulating through the housing body 3 by an intermediate heat transferring medium of any suitable substance, but in the present instance water is used due to its cheapness and adaptability of flowing in a closed circuit. The water is supplied from the ordinary water main and enters chamber I2 through a pipe 32 having the outlet end thereor being 23 connected at one the water in the chamber let space 2! to cause the water entering the inlet 33 to flow around the entire length of the tubes 25 and into contact with the header plates 2| and 23 to absorb the heat of the heat transferring medium of the boiler passing through said tubes and the header spaces 24, II and 22,

justed to be operative to open position by a pressure below the pressure of the fuel oil passing through the header spaces l3, l5 and I6 and tubes l9, so that should the fuel oil seep from any of said elements into the water ,in the chamber II, the added pressure of the oil in the water will escape through said valve and give an alarm that the oil is seeping into the water and the supply of oil should be shut oil from the oil burner. The oil seeping into the water in the chamber II will not aiiect the boiler nor the heat transferring medium thereof as said heat transferring medium does not intermingle "with In Figure 2, there is shown another type of apparatus for carrying out the present method of preheating fuel oil being delivered to an oil burner comprising a housing 43 having laterally extending flanges at the opposite ends and said ends closed by plates 44, 45 secured to the housing by suitable means, such as bolts engaged in peripheral portions of the plates and the flanges of the housing, as shown at 45. The housing is arranged with a longitudinal wall 41 extending parallelly of and intermediate the side walls of the housing with the opposite ends abutting the closure plates 44 and 45 to form liquid tight joints between the wall and closure plates and tube 49, 50 and II spaced inwardly from side walls of the housing tion or integral with said 43 in liquid-tight relaside walls, whereby a housing 43 end portion of header 54, as shown at 6|,

entire length thereof to the pipe 62. The chamber 57 'is adapted for the circulawater drum at one end major part of the heat of said medium is transof said intermediate transferring med um, such as a water main, by a pipe 68 connected at one end to said water main, not-shown, and the optl e chamber 56 adjacent to the end of said chamber in heat into the header and absorbs the heat of the heat transferring mediunriof the boiler through the wall of the tubes 59 and headers BI, 53. The headers 53 and II are connected in communication with each other by a U shaped pipe III having one leg portion engaged in an opening H in the plate 44 leading from the header 5! and the other leg portion mounted in an opening 12 in the plate 44 leading into the header 52. The heated water will flow from the header 53 through the U shaped pipe to the header 52 and from said header 52 through the tubes 58 to the header N. The heat of the hot water passing through the tubes 58 from header 52 to the header 54 is also transferred throughthe wall of the tubes 58 to the fuel oil circulating through chamber 56. The circulation of the intermediate heat transferring medium through the header 55, tubes 59, header 53, U pipe Iii, header 52, tubes 58 and header 54 is completed by connecting the header 4 in communication with the supply pipe 88 through an angle shaped pipe 13 having one end connected to an opening 14 in plate 45 leading from the header 54 and the opposite end connected in communication with the pipe 68, as shown at 15. The direction of flow of the fuel oil, the heat transferring medium of the boiler and the intermediate heat transferring medium is appropriately indicated by arrows.

The U shaped pipe III is also arranged with the expansion chamber 40, pet, cock 4! and relief valve 42 in the same manner and for the same purposes as in apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Having thus described our invention, we claim: heating fuel oil delivered from a supply of the oil to a burner firing a boiler, which consists in circulating the heat transferring medium of the boiler in heat transfer relation with an intermediate circulating fluid medium to heat said intermediate circulating fluid medium, and circulating said heated fluid medium and the fuel oil in heat transfer relation with each other to transfer the heat of the intermediate fluid medium to the fuel oil and thereby heat the fuel oil.

2. The method of heating fuel oil delivered from a supply thereof to a burner flring a boiler, which consists in circulating water and the heat transferring medium of the boiler in heat transfer relation with each other to transfer the heat of the heat transferring medium of the boiler to the water and heat the water, and circulating the fuel oil independently of the heat transferring medium in heat transfer relation with the heated water to transfer the heat of the water to the fuel oil and heat the fuel oil.

3. In apparatus for heating fuel oil delivered from a supply of the oil to a burner firing a boiler, a casing having a pair of chambers therein connected with a source of water and in communication with each other for circulation of the water through the chambers and each chamber arranged with a header at one end and a pair of headers at the opposite end, tubes extending longitudinally through each chamber connecting the headers of said chamber in circulation with each other, the pair of headers at the one end of one chamber being adapted to be connected with the boiler in circulation with the heat transferring medium of the boiler to provide circulation of said medium through said pair of headers, the connecting tubes and the header at the opposite transfer relation in said chamber to heat said header of the pair of with the water water, and one the one end of the other chamber adapted to be connected with the fuel oil supply and the other header of said pair of headers being connected to the burner for circulation of the fuel oil through said pair of headers, the connecting tubes and the header at. the opposite end of said second chamber in heat transfer relation with the heated water in said second chamber to heat the fuel oil.

4. In apparatus for heating fuel oil delivered from a'supply of oil to a burner firing a boiler, a pair of housings mounted in end to end relation with each other, a wall interposed between the of the" housings and closing the abutting ends housings and each housing having a closure at the opposite end, tube sheets spaced inwardly from the opposite ends of the housings and forming headers at and within the closed abutting ends and the outer ends of the housings and a chamber between the tube sheets of each housing, and a partition separating a header at one end of each housing into a pair of headers, tubes extending through the-chamber in each housing fixed at the opposite ends in the tube sheets and connecting the pair of headers at one end of the housings with the header at the opposite end of the housings, means connecting the chambers with a source of water and the chambers in water circulation with each other, the pair of headers at the one end of one of the housing chambers being adapted for connection with the boiler for circulation of the heat transferring medium of the boiler through said pair of headers, the connecting tubes and the header in the opposite end of said chamber for circulation of said medium in heat transfer relation with the water to heat the water, and one of the headers of the pair of headers at the one end of the other housing chamber adapted to be connected with the oil supply and the other of said pair of headers connected to the burner for circulation of the fuel oil through the pair of headers, connecting tubes and the head in the opposite end of said chamher in heat transfer relation with the heated waheaders at ter in said chamber to heat the oil.

, 5. In apparatus for heating fuel oil delivered from a supply of the fuel oil to a burner firing a boiler, a housing having side and end walls and a longitudinal wall extending from the end walls and between the side walls to separate the housing into two parallelly extending chambers, tube sheets spaced inwardly from the opposite end walls of the housing and extending between the longitudinal wall and the side walls of the housing to arrange a header at each end of the chambers, a series of tubes extending longitudinally in each chamber and mounted at the ends in openings in the tube sheets to connect opposite headers in each chamber in communication with each other, one of the chambers being adapted for connection to the boiler in circulation with the heat transferring medium of the boiler to heat said tubes in said chamber, the other chamber having an inlet adapted to be connected in communication with the oil supply and an outlet adapted to be connected in communication with the oil burner for circulation of the oil around the tubes in said chamber, means adapted to connect the headers at one end of both chambers with a source of water, and means connecting the headers at the opposite end of both chambers in water circulation with each other, whereby the water circulating through the tubes in the chamber connected with the boiler in circulation with the heat transferring medium of theboiler is connect one of said chambers means to independently circulate the heat transheated by the transference of the heat of said medium through the walls of said tubes, and heated water passing from said tubes into the and through the connected headers and the connecting tubes in the other chamber in heat transfer relation with the oil circulating around the tubes in said latter chamber heats said oil.

6. In apparatus for heating fuel oil delivered from a supply of the fuel oil to a burner firing a boiler, a housing having a pair of chambers therein, means to connect the chambers in communication with a source of a fluid medium,

means" to connect the chambers in communication with each other for the circulation of the fluid medium through said chambers, means to with the boiler,

ferring medium of the boiler through said chamber in heat transfer relation with the fluid medium to heat the fluid medium, means to connect the second chamber with the burner and the fuel oil supply, and means to provide independent circulation of the fuel oil through said second chamber inheat transfer relation with the fluid medium to heat the fuel oil.

7. In apparatus for heating fuel oil as claimed in claim 6, an expansion chamber arranged in l the means connecting the housing chambers to each other and automatically operative by the expansion of the fluid medium in said housing chambers to relieve the housing chambers of excessive pressure.

8. In apparatus for heating fuel oil as claimed in claim 6, a relief valve arranged in the means connecting the housing chambers to each other and adapted to be actuated by the pressure in the housing chambers to permit escape of pressure from said housing chambers. I

9. In apparatus for heating fuel oil delivered from a supply of oil to a burner firing a boiler as claimed in claim 3, a pipe connecting the intermediate portions of the first and second chambers to transfer heated water from the first chamber to the second chamber, and an expansion chamber mounted in communication with said pipe to permit expansion of the water.

NED DUNN. VINCENT L. FALOTICO. 

